


Love Isn't Always Enough

by ArJoStark



Series: The Road To Recovery [1]
Category: Shameless (US), gallavich - Fandom
Genre: Bipolar Disorder, Family, M/M, bipolar, post 4x12
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-08
Updated: 2014-04-08
Packaged: 2018-01-18 15:28:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1433515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArJoStark/pseuds/ArJoStark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mental illness tears peoples lives apart. No matter how hard you fight it, it never really goes away.<br/>Mickey is in denial about Ian. He wants to believe he can make Ian better without medical help. But life isn't easy, especially when you have a mental illness. And Mickey is about to learn that love isn't always enough.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love Isn't Always Enough

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This has some spoilers if you haven't watched the fourth season, especially the finale. So maybe you should watch season four first, then come back. Either way, I hope you all enjoy it. :)

Mickey didn’t know how long he just sat there and watched Ian sleep. All he knew was it didn’t matter. Ian was all that mattered. And Ian needed him to be there. So if being there meant watching the person he loved as he slept, then so be it. He wasn’t going to leave Ian. He was going to prove to Ian how much he loved him by doing the opposite of what Ian’s parents had done. He wasn’t going to pull a Frank and walk away because of this.

Ian looked more peaceful now. His eyes were closed and he was breathing softly. It was official, today had been the worst day of Mickey’s life. Ian had woken up a few hours ago when the Gallagher’s had been here. It had scared the shit out of him. When he walked into the bedroom, he hadn’t expected to see Ian sitting up, let alone trying to slit his wrists with a razor or some other shit. He couldn’t really remember much about the thing he’d been using, only that he had tried.

It scared Mickey to think of how badly things could have gone if he hadn’t gone into his bedroom earlier. The thought made him want to hurl. He was supposed to be tougher than all this shit, but Ian Gallagher had wormed his way into Mickey’s heart. It was hard for him to admit it, and he hadn’t been sure. But faced with the possibility of losing the person he loved more than anyone had made him realize the truth.

He shook his head and rubbed his eyes, wiping the tears away.

He needed to focus on Ian, not what could happen. Anyway, Ian walking away wasn’t the worst thing that could happen anymore. Right now, the worst thing that could happen would be Ian actually killing himself. He could take Ian walking away as long as he was alive and healthy, the rest didn’t matter as much.

The bedroom door opened and he looked up. Fiona stood in the doorway looking at the two of them. Her smile was sad.  
“How’s he doing now?” she asked him.

He shrugged. “He’s been sleeping for a while now.”

She nodded and held up the bag in her hand. “Lip and Carl got some things together for him. He’s gonna need shit to wear, especially when he starts to feel better.”

Mickey held out his hand to take the bag off Fiona, but she shook her head and started unpacking it herself. He looked back at Ian and sighed. He was grateful for that, not that he’d ever tell her.

“You sure about all this?”

Startled, Mickey looked up at Fiona. “Sure about what?”

“About all this,” she said pointing to Ian in the bed and the stuff she was taking out of the bag. “Are you sure you want to stay with him knowing he’s sick? It’s not going to be easy and there will be times he won’t appreciate what you’re doing for him. So if it’s gonna be too much, you should just let me take care of him.”

The question was like a slap in the face. But he guessed it was understandable that she would be concerned for her brother. He hadn’t been the best person to Ian before. And now things had changed.

“I’m not going to leave him,” he finally whispered. Without thinking, he reached out and started stroking Ian’s soft, warm face. He wasn’t sure if Ian it helped Ian at all, but it gave Mickey a sense of peace. There was something about being able to touch the person he loved that calmed him down like nothing else in the world could.

Fiona shuffled her feet before saying, “Lip’s going to find Monica. We decided we should tell her and Frank.”

“Why?” Mickey asked. “Neither of them give a fuck about him and it’s not like either of them gives a shit about anyone but themselves.”

“They’re our parents, Mickey. Even if they haven’t been good ones, they’re still our parents.”

Mickey shook his head. He remembered what Ian had told him before. “Frank’s not Ian’s father and Ian doesn’t see Monica as a mother. Not like he sees…” He stopped himself from saying it just then, but Fiona looked confused. She was looking at him as if he were strange or something. “His mom already knows, Fiona.”

Her eyes widened as they filled with tears.

Mickey looked up at her and smiled, ruefully. “Even after everything with Liam, he still saw you as the person who was always there. He never judged you for it.”

Fiona didn’t say anything for a long time. Mickey thought he saw some regret in her eyes as she looked at her younger brother. He realized she had been through a lot the past few months and now she was going to have Ian’s illness on top of everything else.

Ian mumbled something in his sleep and grabbed Mickey’s hand. Mickey laced his fingers through Ian’s and rested their joined hands against Ian’s chest.

“What’s going to happen now? With Monica and Frank,” he asked.

Fiona sniffled and cleared her throat. She was sitting on the bed now, holding Ian’s other hand.

“I don’t know. Frank didn’t take the new well, apparently. And Monica,” she laughed, “Monica doesn’t react well to anything. So we’ll see. It depends how she’s doing now anyway. And if we can find her.”

Mickey nodded. He still wasn’t sure about involving Ian’s parents, but it wasn’t his decision. Plus he knew where to hide the bodies if they tried to take his boyfriend away.

“You can lie down with him for a while, if you want,” Mickey told Fiona after a while.

Mickey knew she wanted to if the way she looked at him was anything to go by. He didn’t mind as much as he thought he would. He’d meant what he had said earlier, they would look after Ian, not just him.

“Are you sure?” she asked, but she was already settling down beside Ian.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” he replied.


End file.
